Every year the Rotary Club Greater Rajpura, RID 3090, organises a mass marriage (samuhik vivah) for couples from underprivileged families, where all the expenses related to the religious ceremonies, bridal wear, food, and even a basic set of household essential items for the new couple, are taken care of by the project.
This year too, come April and seven young men and women were married in a grand celebration held in traditional Indian style. Complete ceremonial arrangements, from organisation of religious rituals to the feast (Bhandara) for the guests were made by the Rotarians. Past president of the club and its present secretary Manoj Modi said the club decided to organise a “grand mass marriage ceremony for seven men and women belonging to needy families, with all the dignity, grace, joy and celebrations carried out in most Indian weddings.”
Around ₹10 lakh was spent on the entire event and each couple was gifted household items such a bed and mattress, suitcase, bridal wear complete with make-up kits for the brides, and sherwanis for the bridegrooms, seven sets of clothes for the brides, and three sets for the grooms, a modest dining table with 4 chairs, kitchen utensils and some items which individual club members donated according to their choice. Women who knew tailoring were given sewing machines, so that they could start earning a livelihood.
“Over 500 guests from both the brides’ and bridegrooms’ families attended the ceremony. All guests were served delicious food with utmost respect, care and dignity, truly reflecting the spirit of Rotary service, compassion and humanity,” said Naveen Garg, district secretary.
Modi said till now the club has helped over 150 couples and their families to conduct their weddings. On how the matches are made he said the Rotarians don’t play any role in matchmaking. “On the other hand, people in this region are well aware that our Rotary club helps to conduct marriage celebrations of couples who can’t afford to do this. We’ve also advertised this project through social media, posters and flyers, and since we’ve been doing this for so many years, many people know about this project. So we get applications from the families, who have already chosen partners for their sons or daughters.”
Once the applications are received, with the groom and bride’s Aadhar cards to ensure they meet the legal marriage age requirements, the verification committee checks these, and other criteria such as the economic status of the family This is certified by the sarpanch of the village who knows the families at close quarters. Only those who cannot afford wedding expenses are considered for this project. The club has celebrated the marriage of couples from all faiths… for Hindus the pheras are performed by the purohit; for Muslims Nikah is performed by the Maulvi/Qazi, for Christians and Sikhs, churches and Gurudwaras are identified for the marriage rituals.
Modi added that their district’s DG Bhupesh Mehta had really taken to this project and had himself presided over the mass marriage conducted by the club. He participated in the celebrations and blessed the couples. “He has endorsed this idea saying that as today marriages are becoming increasingly difficult to conduct by economically disadvantaged classes because of the rising costs, and if the family is not able to organise a decent celebration along with a good meal, others will gossip and the marriage begins on a shaky foundation. Hence, he said, what we are doing is a real service to the community.”
So what about dowry? “There’s absolutely no question about it,” he says, adding that the entire event “thanks to its excellent organisation, disciplined management and humanitarian approach, was noted and appreciated not only in Rajpura but also in the surrounding areas, boosting Rotary’s public image.”
While all the club’s Rotarians led by its president Dr Surinder Kumar worked for the project, much of the funding was given by two NRIs Deepak Sood (US) and Vineesh Chugh (Canada). “This project truly reflected the Rotary ideals of Service Above Self and social responsibility towards the weaker sections of society,” said Dr Kumar, club president.
He added that those interested in couples who qualify for help under this project can be referred to the club on the Rotary Club Rajpura Greater Facebook Group.